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Speed

I wasn’t anywhere near old enough to hold a driver’s license but my dad had already bought me a motorcycle. It was a late seventies BMW R100 RS, dark blue. I loved that bike; I polished it fortnightly even though it never left the garage. I spent hours sitting on it, twisting the throttle and squeezing the clutch, diving in and out of turns on a twisty road somewhere in my imagination. My dad sold the bike not long after I got serious about Cycling, making the shrewd observation that if I was able to land myself in the emergency room as often as I did under my own power, then from a Darwinian standpoint my chances of survival would be dramatically decreased by the introduction of a 1000cc engine.

To this day, I love speed. I feel it in that layer between skin and muscle that science will tell you doesn’t exist but that anyone who has ever taken a risk will tell you does. On a bicycle, it doesn’t even have to be high speed; descending, cruising along a valley road, or climbing – any speed that comes as a result of that familiar pressure in my legs and lungs is a thrill.

Cornering at speed will amplify the feeling of speed as your muscles press against the change in tangental velocity. But even the slower speeds of climbing can produce the exciting effects of speed; diving into a tight switchback on a fast climb can provide the distinctive exhilaration that comes with needing to brake and lean while climbing. There is no sensation in Cycling that will make one feel more Pro than needing to control your speed while going uphill.

Cobblestones and gravel also provide their unique doorway into the feeling of speed. The bouncing of the machine under you as you push a big gear along the road will amplify the sensation of going fast with the transitions from tarmac to rough roads and back again playing their own part to demonstrate speed through the power of contrast.

Riding along a road that has a lot of shrubbery or tall grass that hugs the roadside, my peripheral vision will quietly inform me that the blurred motion at my side is the direct result of my own burning engine and the effort I’m putting into the pedals. To experience under our own strength that which others require a motor to accomplish is what makes us stand apart. We are active participants in speed. We are Cyclists.

About frank

A lifelong Velominatus, the history and culture within cycling fascinates Frank and, if given even the vaguest of excuses, will discuss it to exhuastion. A devoted cycling aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it.

Your uphill thought reminded me of the wonderful sensation of reaching a mountain hairpin as I climb, taking the outside line and being able to spin that much faster, almost a feeling of flight after the grinding that my climbing style resembles.

This. Maintaining the Magnificent Stroke while on a longer line climbing much quicker than the shorter inside line is a definite thrill…

Yeah, Cougar Mountain here has a particularly steep hairpin and everyone hits the inside but steep side of it. I go wide and loves me the easier gradient.

raz – It’s fun to work on and thrilling when you hold a line you’ve been too nervous to just roll through. I lack an off-road riding background, which I think can really, really help in cornering of all types on a bicycle. Especially if you start at a young age when crashing isn’t so scary or life-interfering. Heading to 4th grade on crutches or in a wheel chair is cool, heading to work…not as cool.

The most valuable thing offroad cornering will do is teach you at lower speeds (i.e. less consequence) what happens when your wheels slide.

Spoiler alert: wheels sliding do not mean “crash”, they mean adjust weight. If you adjust wrong, then maybe it means crash, but your wheels can slide any direction (independently) and you can still come through the corner just fine.

Great article Frank. I must admit to having never felt the need to brake for terrain whilst rounding a switchback on a climb, though I have had brake to for other cyclists crossing my line, and that feels anything but fast.

There are three climbs on one route in Seattle proper (I admit its one of my favorites) which have a corner that if I ride it well enough, I will need to break or keep a pedal up on the way uphill to avoid a problem.

I’ll show them to you one day. It is a real thrill, especially because they are on my medium-hard routes, which means I do that route when I’m not feeling 100% so the mental boost is always welcome. When I do them when I’m 100% I curse myself for not choosing a better line. Its win-win because no one curses themselves for their chosen line going uphill unless they’re PRO.

It is not just you; except it only amplifies once you get how to ride the track. On your first trip up the embankment, your only sensation is how fucking slow you are and that you’re about to fall off.

The feeling of a wicked fast descent down a buttery smooth mountain road is like none other.

This.

+1 . I often get the the bottom of climbs after screaming down at speed and think ” shit that was awesome” then the little voice in my head says “youd be pretty fkd up if youd fallen at that pace !”

And that same little voice sometimes talks me into going back up so I can do it again.

Today’s ride was intended to be super easy. The normal route has a little leg breaker and I realized a could reverse a section of the route to avoid it, but it meant going down the major 2km climb of the shorter version of this route that I use for hill repeats. Never been down it before (there’s a small loop to take to bring you around in about 2 min for the repeats; perfect recovery time.)

Fuck me was that a thrill. Perfect tarmac, perfect bends, only one road where someone could kill me if they pulled out. Feather the brakes, and badabing badaboom. Almost did an about-face to go do it again!

But alas, I know how to train properly and instead headed to the harbor to have a coffee on the shore before heading back home.

One of the more exciting aspects of a new bike is working out the braking requirements for certain descents…I have to admit to pulling a Voeckler on one of my fave descents last week after getting the calculations a little wrong.

Thankfully it was on the hairpin with a driveway on the outside of the corner & not the previous one that drops off over a quarry face!

Local bike club runs a session once a week at the local outdoor velodrome, road bikes only, but going even at 30kph seems fast when there are 10 of you in a group

Ok who am I kidding, I’m doing 30 all the others are at 33+. I think to myself, och they’re not that much faster I’ll hang on the back for a few laps but do you think I can close that last half metre, can I balls! I also now realise how huge franks achievement on the track was when I could only manage 30 k in an hour. It’s amazing the extra effort you need just for a small increase in average speed.

As for proper speed, downhill inches behind some one else, yah beauty, as we say here! It seems to be easier to draft at high speed and then my extra body mass means I can just put in a little extra effort to get past skinny hill climbing monkeys on the way down.

That’s a gorgeous photo to emphasize the point – all the perspective lines are warped by his speed (and the wide angle lense) to move the vanishing point off the page.. I’m always trying to explain the joy of cycling to non-cyclists but they never understand – Bretto, Bianchi Denti, Kah and I rode an extended ride on gravel beside a river in Wellington last Sunday to celebrate Strada Bianche. We were recovering with an ale in a pub when a motorcyclist comes up and says ” why would you bother pushing on those pedals?”. We had earned our beer, riding miles racing each other, physically tired, covered in dust and satiated as opposed to the fat fucker in the bandana who sat on his machine for a speed kick all day. Like you say Frank speed is best experienced when it’s earned through hard toil

For some reason I can’t quite explain, I get my jollies from playing in traffic at speed.

My commute home has a lovely set of hairpin turns that terminate in a long straight runout of perhaps a mile. It’s two lanes per side with heavy car traffic in this spot. The turns are tight enough that I can beat the cars out of the corners every time, and then it’s a flat-out sprint to the bottom of the hill. Drivers won’t usually play along, but every now and again some kid will pull alongside and redline his engine. Makes my day.

There’s another lovely dead-flat run of about 1.5 miles by the river where the winds are almost always at your back and the speed limit 2omph (which of course means they go 30/35.) There is no excuse for failing to stay on a car’s wheel for the entirety of this run. Bliss.

raz – It’s fun to work on and thrilling when you hold a line you’ve been too nervous to just roll through. I lack an off-road riding background, which I think can really, really help in cornering of all types on a bicycle. Especially if you start at a young age when crashing isn’t so scary or life-interfering. Heading to 4th grade on crutches or in a wheel chair is cool, heading to work…not as cool.

The most valuable thing offroad cornering will do is teach you at lower speeds (i.e. less consequence) what happens when your wheels slide.

Spoiler alert: wheels sliding do not mean “crash”, they mean adjust weight. If you adjust wrong, then maybe it means crash, but your wheels can slide any direction (independently) and you can still come through the corner just fine.

Yep, I have been learning this. After a few years of riding cyclocross, my handling and cornering are vastly improved. On the road I feel really strong and confident cornering.

Okay, question for the off-roader background folks – when taking a right-handed turn, inside foot up, weight on right side of bars and the rear wheel starts to wash out/slide to the left, how/where do I adjust my weight? Push harder on the bars? Lean harder to the right? Push back off the saddle?

Speed, in terms of “how fast I’m going,” is a fickle thing, and not necessarily related to how I feel on the bike. Sometimes I’ll get home after a ride that felt “fast,” and see that it’s one of my more pedestrian efforts on a given route. Other times I’ll get home feeling as if I just wrestled a bear for two hours, and I’ll find that it was one of my faster efforts.

It’s when the sensation of speed and effortless power come together, as noted above, that I feel the deliciously addictive nature of true Speed. It doesn’t happen a lot (especially this time of year), but it’s one of the sensations that keeps me climbing into the saddle day in and day out.

Personally I stay pretty centred and opposite steer (or reduce steer to control the skid) – that is of course on the assumption that there is room. I would not lean harder to the right as that is more likely to shift your weight inside the point of contact and the bike will go out from under you. If you are staying with the skid you need to stay balanced over your contact point(s). Just like skiing – don’t “hill hug” or you will end up hugging the hill.

The roads have been so bad around me in the UK through the winter that any notion of speed cornering was a commitment to eat tarmac (or drown in the floods). However, now it has stopped raining the roads are dry and the mud and gravel has (mostly) gone. So (potholes aside) I can now let fly down my local hill with a sweeping left right at the bottom. On a bike its a buzz to sweep the bends at speed but in a car the line is such that you can’t hold the same speed without being a bit nutty as it’s a bit of a blind bend so you can’t cut the centre line.

For some reason I can’t quite explain, I get my jollies from playing in traffic at speed.

My commute home has a lovely set of hairpin turns that terminate in a long straight runout of perhaps a mile. It’s two lanes per side with heavy car traffic in this spot. The turns are tight enough that I can beat the cars out of the corners every time, and then it’s a flat-out sprint to the bottom of the hill. Drivers won’t usually play along, but every now and again some kid will pull alongside and redline his engine. Makes my day.

There’s another lovely dead-flat run of about 1.5 miles by the river where the winds are almost always at your back and the speed limit 2omph (which of course means they go 30/35.) There is no excuse for failing to stay on a car’s wheel for the entirety of this run. Bliss.

I’m with @antihero on this and after forty years of killing it in traffic with, ironically, no accidents except when I was training to race! My current commute is 16km in traffic usually with a wind. It is the best when my fitness and the wind coincide to keep me in the flow of traffic. Drafting scoters and trucks are icing on the cake. I just broke 30 minutes (with stops for the big lights) and am aiming for the mid 20’s by summer.

@The Pressure, your right – do not try this at home! Seriously I started at 17 with a daily commute across central London for 4 years then back to Boston for 12. After that 25 years 90 miles from NYC where I’d train in and ride all day in the city 2-3 times a month. Now in Miami where traffic is flakey but manageable as the city has made bike awareness much better.

Like @antihero playing in traffic is, I think, an acquired taste. It also carries a risk that is not there when riding at speed with no traffic. I think of it like a sword duel there is no monkey mind or sight seeing the focus is 100% and acceptance of the risk is part of the deal!

For some reason I can’t quite explain, I get my jollies from playing in traffic at speed.

Like @antihero playing in traffic is, I think, an acquired taste. It also carries a risk that is not there when riding at speed with no traffic. I think of it like a sword duel there is no monkey mind or sight seeing the focus is 100% and acceptance of the risk is part of the deal!

Back in high school, I was an avid mountain biker. I grew up following Tomac, Overend, Cuddles and Hejsedal on the World Cup circuit. I had a dream of being a professional cyclist. Between HS and smart school, I fulfilled that dream by being a bike messenger. Playing in traffic is definitely an acquired taste, especially in the core zones of major cities.

There is also nothing better for your guns than 8 hour interval sessions, racing against cars and trucks to the next light, trying to cross 4 lanes of traffic before they get up to speed, or trying to stay on their wheel at 50-60kph in order to make the green at the end of the block (or a few blocks away).

The roads have been so bad around me in the UK through the winter that any notion of speed cornering was a commitment to eat tarmac (or drown in the floods). However, now it has stopped raining the roads are dry and the mud and gravel has (mostly) gone. So (potholes aside) I can now let fly down my local hill with a sweeping left right at the bottom. On a bike its a buzz to sweep the bends at speed but in a car the line is such that you can’t hold the same speed without being a bit nutty as it’s a bit of a blind bend so you can’t cut the centre line.

There’s many a car around my corner of our county that happily cuts that centre line and to hell with the risk of taking a cyclist out. I get your meaning though and it’s such a pleasure to get home from a ride without being covered in crap.

Yes to all that. I never made it to smart school(+1) and had dreams of messengering but the real job and racing got in the way… My days in NYC had me having lots o fun with the bad boy messengers of fixiedom, the skids, the moves, the run ups, to and through the red (them not me). It was always fun to duel with them and on the rare occasion get a nod of “for an old fart you’ve got something”, which was gold.

back to topic: I’m now riding with a small group and although they ride well and put some hurt in, in what seems to be typical Miami style they are one speed ponies and I have to warn them that on certain rides if a faster group or the right scooter/truck comes up I will be jumping on.

Its not about showing off, nor trying to beat anyone, it’s all about just loving going fast and if it’s too long at one tempo I get antsy.

That was a revelation for sure as I started doing them faster. It was amazing how that back wheel slides in the turn but completely holds traction because I’m putting force to it. I still need to learn to front brake to finesse it. It has completely changed how I go through corners. There were some off camber s turns on the local circuit that went from being impossible to navigate to breezing through when I just kept pedaling.

Okay, question for the off-roader background folks – when taking a right-handed turn, inside foot up, weight on right side of bars and the rear wheel starts to wash out/slide to the left, how/where do I adjust my weight? Push harder on the bars? Lean harder to the right? Push back off the saddle?

It depends on why the wheel is sliding. And it really isn’t something I think you should be thinking through because you won’t think fast enough. Practice practice practice, it will start to come naturally after a few crashes and a few saves and you start to sort out what’s working and what isn’t.

That said, some high level thoughts: if your wheel is washing out because it has too much weight on the inside, your best bet is to unweight the saddle a bit and get your weight more over your bike. You might also steer into the slide which is a mechanical way of adjusting your weight. If you’re sliding because you don’t have enough traction you might have to push down on your outside leg and possibly even start pedaling to get the tire loaded.

The most important tip I think anyone has ever given me on any kind of technical activity, whether its riding in traffic, through a CX course, doing a tough MTB climb, or skiing trees: Look where you WANT to go, not where you DON’T want to go.

The most important tip I think anyone has ever given me on any kind of technical activity, whether its riding in traffic, through a CX course, doing a tough MTB climb, or skiing trees: Look where you WANT to go, not where you DON’T want to go.

This times a thousand.

This is almost universally good advice, to which I would merely add (what might seem obvious but is sometimes hard to remember) that the faster you’re going the farther away where you WANT to go IS. As Frank said, when you’re going fast, you can’t think your way out of trouble once the trouble has started; what you can do is give your central nervous system more time to react to what’s ahead–which means getting your eyes/focus/will/intention farther down the road/trail/whatever.

On a motorcycle, this will save your ass six times per mile, and I find that the more I do this on my mtb the less I use my brakes and the faster I go and the more fun I have.

The most important tip I think anyone has ever given me on any kind of technical activity, whether its riding in traffic, through a CX course, doing a tough MTB climb, or skiing trees: Look where you WANT to go, not where you DON’T want to go.

This times a thousand.

This is almost universally good advice, to which I would merely add (what might seem obvious but is sometimes hard to remember) that the faster you’re going the farther away where you WANT to go IS. As Frank said, when you’re going fast, you can’t think your way out of trouble once the trouble has started; what you can do is give your central nervous system more time to react to what’s ahead-which means getting your eyes/focus/will/intention farther down the road/trail/whatever.

On a motorcycle, this will save your ass six times per mile, and I find that the more I do this on my mtb the less I use my brakes and the faster I go and the more fun I have.

Times a thousand again makes it something like times a million.

Approaching a turn, if you are concentrating on the track out rather then apex you will be much better set up for the apex. At the apex, if you are concentrating on the next approach, again you will be much more set up for that turn.

Driving at speed at the track or Auto-X, I am looking out of the side window, (sometimes even over my shoulder) almost as much as I am through the windshield. Somehow your brain calculates the step you are in just fine as you concentrate on the next step or even the one after that.

That’s a gorgeous photo to emphasize the point – all the perspective lines are warped by his speed (and the wide angle lense) to move the vanishing point off the page.. I’m always trying to explain the joy of cycling to non-cyclists but they never understand – Bretto, Bianchi Denti, Kah and I rode an extended ride on gravel beside a river in Wellington last Sunday to celebrate Strada Bianche. We were recovering with an ale in a pub when a motorcyclist comes up and says ” why would you bother pushing on those pedals?”. We had earned our beer, riding miles racing each other, physically tired, covered in dust and satiated as opposed to the fat fucker in the bandana who sat on his machine for a speed kick all day. Like you say Frank speed is best experienced when it’s earned through hard toil

@antihero Gentlemen. Be smart. Enjoy your speed. Acquired taste or not, ‘playing’ with traffic can only end one way. Cheat it at your peril, but if you try to occupy the same space as your four-wheeled friends, the result isn’t worth the thrill. Not to mention the ill will you are spreading darting in and out. Commute? Then commute. You want thrills? Find your descents as you contest townlines. I like reading your entries…be safe.

@antihero Gentlemen. Be smart. Enjoy your speed. Acquired taste or not, ‘playing’ with traffic can only end one way. Cheat it at your peril, but if you try to occupy the same space as your four-wheeled friends, the result isn’t worth the thrill. Not to mention the ill will you are spreading darting in and out. Commute? Then commute. You want thrills? Find your descents as you contest townlines. I like reading your entries…be safe.

I’m not sure anyone is talking about taking cars head-on here; surely these guys are riding at the side of the road, just racing the traffic?

I strongly believe in taking the lane whenever a situation gets sketchy, you have to hold your position because cars don’t realize the danger they put you in when they pass in those cases. That said, you have to have the chops to go the speed of traffic to stay there or have the courtesy to only take the lane so long as your safety depends on it. As soon as you have a chance to pull to the side, pull over, slow down, and always wave a thanks to the traffic that waited for you.

On the other hand I got hit going straight through a green light, so even with all the right precautions you’re pretty much fucked.

yup, had a very close call with a dumptruck full of moron this morning when climbing around a blind bend. Genius decided to crawl around me (wouldn’t have been going more than 5km/h faster than me) straddling the double solid lines (no passing). When the traffic came he naturally pulled to the left, luckily for your truly the hillside wasn’t flush against the road so with an impromptu cross session disaster was avoided. See below:

The most important tip I think anyone has ever given me on any kind of technical activity, whether its riding in traffic, through a CX course, doing a tough MTB climb, or skiing trees: Look where you WANT to go, not where you DON’T want to go.

Too right – first tip of skiing in trees – look at the gaps not at the trees!

@antihero Gentlemen. Be smart. Enjoy your speed. Acquired taste or not, ‘playing’ with traffic can only end one way. Cheat it at your peril, but if you try to occupy the same space as your four-wheeled friends, the result isn’t worth the thrill. Not to mention the ill will you are spreading darting in and out. Commute? Then commute. You want thrills? Find your descents as you contest townlines. I like reading your entries…be safe.

I’m not sure anyone is talking about taking cars head-on here; surely these guys are riding at the side of the road, just racing the traffic?

I strongly believe in taking the lane whenever a situation gets sketchy, you have to hold your position because cars don’t realize the danger they put you in when they pass in those cases. That said, you have to have the chops to go the speed of traffic to stay there or have the courtesy to only take the lane so long as your safety depends on it. As soon as you have a chance to pull to the side, pull over, slow down, and always wave a thanks to the traffic that waited for you.

@frank is correct here: at no time do I ever violate traffic laws (save perhaps for the speed limit on a good day.) As a Velominatus (in training) I am an ambassador for our sport, and not a some idiot messenger boy.

I always take the lane when riding in the city – it’s the only safe option in many places. Riding next to the gutter in the city is a sure way to 1) Have flats every day, and 2) beg drivers to intimidate you. The faster you ride, the safer you are. Like @frank said: if you start holding up traffic, you pull over and let folks by with a friendly wave. Or, you just lay the fucking hammer down and give folks in the cars a show.

It’s been months since I’ve had even the slightest trouble with from driver, and I’m out on the city streets every single day. Vehicular cycling and good manners are the key. Plus speed. Lots of speed.

On the other hand I got hit going straight through a green light, so even with all the right precautions you’re pretty much fucked.

yup, had a very close call with a dumptruck full of moron this morning when climbing around a blind bend. Genius decided to crawl around me (wouldn’t have been going more than 5km/h faster than me) straddling the double solid lines (no passing). When the traffic came he naturally pulled to the left, luckily for your truly the hillside wasn’t flush against the road so with an impromptu cross session disaster was avoided. See below:

Red = Truck

Blue = Where Mikael escaped to

I had this thought on a bridge the other day that all it takes is one car swerving to avoid another to throw me off into the abyss.

For some reason I can’t quite explain, I get my jollies from playing in traffic at speed.

My commute home has a lovely set of hairpin turns that terminate in a long straight runout of perhaps a mile. It’s two lanes per side with heavy car traffic in this spot. The turns are tight enough that I can beat the cars out of the corners every time, and then it’s a flat-out sprint to the bottom of the hill. Drivers won’t usually play along, but every now and again some kid will pull alongside and redline his engine. Makes my day.

There’s another lovely dead-flat run of about 1.5 miles by the river where the winds are almost always at your back and the speed limit 2omph (which of course means they go 30/35.) There is no excuse for failing to stay on a car’s wheel for the entirety of this run. Bliss.

@unversio we have lovely trucks here. Big water tankers that do about 50 or 60 km/h , maybe up to 70 when they are up to speed. Catch one coming out of a roundabout and you can go for miles.

I have a bit of a reputation for doing it – like a rat up a drainpipe as someone once said to me.

but then we have near perfect roads with multiple lanes and I’m usually doing it on roads I kW with no interruptions like lights or intersections. And 10,000 gallons of water ain’t stopping any faster than me.

On the other hand I got hit going straight through a green light, so even with all the right precautions you’re pretty much fucked.

yup, had a very close call with a dumptruck full of moron this morning when climbing around a blind bend. Genius decided to crawl around me (wouldn’t have been going more than 5km/h faster than me) straddling the double solid lines (no passing). When the traffic came he naturally pulled to the left, luckily for your truly the hillside wasn’t flush against the road so with an impromptu cross session disaster was avoided. See below:

Red = Truck

Blue = Where Mikael escaped to

I had this thought on a bridge the other day that all it takes is one car swerving to avoid another to throw me off into the abyss.

That is why you take the lane under those circumstances. Of the two of you, you are likely the only one who realizes you don’t want them passing.

@unversio we have lovely trucks here. Big water tankers that do about 50 or 60 km/h , maybe up to 70 when they are up to speed. Catch one coming out of a roundabout and you can go for miles.

I have a bit of a reputation for doing it – like a rat up a drainpipe as someone once said to me.

but then we have near perfect roads with multiple lanes and I’m usually doing it on roads I kW with no interruptions like lights or intersections. And 10,000 gallons of water ain’t stopping any faster than me.

Used to do this in college. They (truck drivers) did not like it one bit. At least, that’s what we would gather from the hand gestures once we broke off.

@unversio we have lovely trucks here. Big water tankers that do about 50 or 60 km/h , maybe up to 70 when they are up to speed. Catch one coming out of a roundabout and you can go for miles.

I have a bit of a reputation for doing it – like a rat up a drainpipe as someone once said to me.

but then we have near perfect roads with multiple lanes and I’m usually doing it on roads I kW with no interruptions like lights or intersections. And 10,000 gallons of water ain’t stopping any faster than me.

For some reason I can’t quite explain, I get my jollies from playing in traffic at speed.

My commute home has a lovely set of hairpin turns that terminate in a long straight runout of perhaps a mile. It’s two lanes per side with heavy car traffic in this spot. The turns are tight enough that I can beat the cars out of the corners every time, and then it’s a flat-out sprint to the bottom of the hill. Drivers won’t usually play along, but every now and again some kid will pull alongside and redline his engine. Makes my day.

There’s another lovely dead-flat run of about 1.5 miles by the river where the winds are almost always at your back and the speed limit 2omph (which of course means they go 30/35.) There is no excuse for failing to stay on a car’s wheel for the entirety of this run. Bliss.

….and I thought I had a nice Dad! When I myself was on the verge of driving lessons my Dad bought HIMSELF a 1964 Jaquar 4.2 sedan with burled dashboard and burled stick-shift, leather seats. Wicked fast- A sports car in old man’s clothing! It had a pushbutton start, and I practiced moving it up and down the driveway for a few months. Tough break: just before my 16th birthday the car developed brake problems for which parts had to be ordered from England, and while waiting out the winter the engine seized and the car never returned. Had to satiate my need for speed on my Raleigh Supercourse- until I bought myself a Yamaha 650 (a Triumph copycat).